By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The government is working on new proposals to regulate privately owned intelligence agencies, in the wake of former Eskom CEO Andre De Ruyter hiring private agency for power utility probe.
De Ruyter, in partnership with Business Leadership South Africa (BLSA), conducted and compiled a private investigation at the embattled power utility.
He approached BLSA to help fund a risk assessment into criminal activity and sabotage at the utility.
BLSA subsequently contributed R18 million towards the R50 million investigation, and De Ruyter appointed George Fivaz Forensic and Risk to conduct the investigation and compile a report of its findings
Neither the Eskom board nor the public were informed that the investigation was taking place.
The minister of the Presidency responsible for state security, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, told Sunday Times that this would form part of the General Intelligence Laws Amendment Bill (GILAB), which seeks to regulate the conduct of former members of the service.
“Whether you like it or not, we’ve got what we call external capacity. You’ve got someone who works for the State Security Agency (SSA), and for whatever reason, they leave, and they’ve got this expertise and information, and they go and set up their own thing.
“So what we are doing with GILAB is to say how to regulate that, and that is to propose a regulatory mechanism, “said Ntshavheni.
Ntshavheni said that private operations were regulated by the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA), but there was a loophole as the PSIRA does not regulate the intelligence-gathering component, which is the SSA’s responsibility.
Ideally, De Ruyter should have gotten the SSA to vet the company he selected for the investigation. Once the SSA had approved it, there would be an agreement on where the gathered information would be stored, said Ntshavheni.
According to the minister, De Ruyter’s actions were potentially illegal. She reiterated that the SSA was not involved in the operation, which she described as “rogue”.
Ntshavheni said GILAB was scheduled for consideration by the cabinet this week before submission to parliament.
Following his private investigation, De Ruyter published a book Truth To Power: My Three Years Inside Eskom, revealing further insight into the dark underbelly of Eskom and its goings on. The book has faced backlash from political figureheads.
The publisher of the book, Penguin Random House, has said that it stabds stands by de Ruyter and his book, while Eskom says it is still “reviewing” its contents and “will take appropriate and reasonable steps to ensure that the board takes all necessary action” regarding the allegations it contains.